Scourge's Second Chance
by ShidesuHejjihoggu
Summary: After escaping from the Zone Jail, Scourge heads to Sonic's world to get revenge on the blue hero. Instead, he gets the chance at something he never thought he would have. Rated T for language and a bit of violence.


**I got inspired for a new fanfic (mainly by some songs I've been listening to), so here I am uploading it. It'll also serve as a bit of a filler until all the hype about the M rated fics being removed dies down…I can't exactly upload "Snow White Queen" until I know it's safe enough to do so…though I'm thinking of moving all of my fanfics to deviantART…I dunno for sure if I should do it yet.**

**It's also kind of my way of celebrating Sonic's and Scourge's 21st birthday (I know they're about 17 in the comics, but just bear with me on this). This is also a gift for my friend's half birthday. I decided to kill two birds with one stone. XD**

**Note: Although I've done a bit of research, characters might be OOC and I might get some facts wrong. I will do my best to keep everything right, however. Aside from my research, my limited knowledge comes from the few comics I own (I've been collecting the comics featuring Anti-Sonic/Scourge in order to learn more about him, and because I like him now).**

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to their respectful owners. I only own the plot.**

Scourge's Second Chance

Light blue eyes gazed at the house he'd been to only once before. Now that was free from that forsaken prison, and having ditched his gang on Moebius by running off with the Warp Ring, he was gonna get revenge on the one who'd put him there in the first place.

_Sonic the Hedgehog._

Just thinking about how the hero of Mobius had outsmarted him left a bad taste in his mouth…as did remembering his time in the Zone Jail. He couldn't suppress the flinch from remembering the daily abuse he'd endured, as part of…what had Zobotnik called it? Oh yeah. "Aggressive rehabilitation." Emphasis on the aggressive part…

He must have lingered too long, for he was snapped out memory lane by someone yelling out his name, equal parts anger and surprise in the voice.

He looked in the direction of the voice to see that it was none other than the Blue Blur himself. Not wanting to let the other hedgehog know he'd been caught off guard, Scourge gave a casual smirk. "What's up, Blue? Didja miss me?"

"I should've know you'd find some way to escape," Sonic replied, getting into a fighting stance.

"Who says I escaped? The warden simply let me go since I did so good in his rehabilitation," Scourge lied, keeping up his nonchalant attitude to hide his growing unease at the fight he knew would probably happen. He still wasn't fully recovered from his time in prison, and with his quills still shortened, he wouldn't be able to move as fast as he normally would.

"Why do I find it hard to believe you…" Sonic said, not letting his guard down.

Scourge had an idea. It had popped into his head as soon as he'd spoken that lie. It was risky, and he wasn't sure if he could pull it off, but he had to try. "Relax, Blue, I didn't come here for a fight."

Sonic relaxed a tad, but was still suspicious. "Why are you here, then, Scourge?"

"Just think of this as a…I dunno, a truce or somethin'."

Not entirely trusting of the green hedgehog, with good reason, Sonic quickly formed a plan of his own. "Alright, fine. But first…" The blue hero charged at his doppelganger, intent on landing at least one blow for all the trouble he'd caused.

Not expecting this, Scourge barely had time to dodge, and the gloved fist connected with his cheek, sending him sprawling to the ground. Almost immediately, his mind flashed to when he was still in the prison, as "Snot". Instinctively he curled up a little, raising an arm to try and ward off any more blows to his face.

In retrospect, maybe punching him wasn't one of Sonic's better ideas, but while a part of him did feel good about it, he could see that by looking at his "twin", his time in the Zone Jail had a big impact on him.

"Just what did they do to you, Scourge…?" he wondered aloud. From what he could see of Scourge's body now that he was close enough, there were still some bruises and cuts, all in various stages of healing.

His blue ears twitched as he caught the sound of Scourge mumbling, "Nothin' but a worm now…lowest of the low…just a damn punching bag…"

Sonic honestly felt bad for his doppelganger, and he couldn't help feeling remorse for having been the one to ship Scourge to the Zone Jail…but he had just been doing his duty as a Hero. There was nothing wrong with that…was there?

Did everyone imprisoned experience the same thing as Scourge…?

He hadn't stopped to think about it before…but there was no time to do that now, either. Cautiously, he knelt down and reached out to try and shake Scourge from his flashback.

Slowly, he placed a hand on the other's shoulder.

Scourge snapped out of his memories, but still jerked away. "Don't…" He was feeling some resentment towards Sonic for dumping him in the Jail, and also he was embarrassed that he'd lost his composure in front of him; had shown a _weakness_ to the one he still considered an enemy.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, Scourge. I just want to help-"

That word alone was enough to make the former King of Moebius laugh bitterly. "You, help me? You were the one who put me in that hellhole in the first place!"

Sonic would have pointed out that, if Scourge hadn't gone on a mad power spree, that wouldn't have happened, but he figured the Anti hedgehog wouldn't believe him. "…I know, and you have every right to hate me for it. But, Scourge…" he sighed. "That's all in the past now. The only thing to do is let it go and make the best of the rest of your life. I'm willing to start over if you are."

"Let it go? Start over? You want me to simply forget everything I've been through…?"

"Not forget," the blue hedgehog assured. "Just don't make it the center of your life. Like Shadow did; he wanted revenge for the death of his human friend, but now he's working with GUN, the same military group that wanted to destroy him."

"…Huh…never thought Stripes as the one to let go of a grudge." He looked at the ground in thought. Maybe…maybe he didn't need to pretend he'd changed…

"Whaddya say, Green? Truce?" Sonic asked, holding out his hand.

Scourge looked at him and hesitated, but then reached out and took Sonic's hand, and the two hedgehogs sealed the deal. "Truce."

Sonic grinned. "C'mon, then. You're just in time, anyway."

Now Scourge was confused. "Whaddya mean?"

The blue hedgehog gave him a weird look. "What, they don't keep calendars in that Jail?"

"Eh…not really…" Scourge didn't bother to say that it was hard enough just making it through the day so it was pointless to keep track of the dates.

"Well, since you're a bit behind on the times…it just so happens that today's our birthday!"

Scourge blinked. Their birthday…the day that changed everything for him…

_"A real **Scourge** all the same…"_

The day he'd started trying to prove he was more than just 'Evil Sonic'.

Look where that had gotten him. He'd been betrayed by his own gang, dethroned by having his plan backfire, imprisoned and then beaten like a piñata…

Scourge's thoughts were interrupted by Sonic waving a hand in front of his face. "C'mon, Scourge, I already told them you were here; let's go!"

Way to rub salt into the wound by bringing up the fact that Sonic still had _his_ speed while Scourge _didn't_…

"I'm comin', I'm comin'…"

Of course, just to spite Blue, Scourge moved as slowly as he could.

Sonic tapped his foot impatiently. "C'mon, hurry up already!"

Snickering, Scourge just continued at a snail's pace.

Sonic sighed and turned towards his home. "Come on, Scourge…we've wasted enough time as it is."

"Right…"

Jogging over to Sonic, Scourge really wished he had his speed back, but with his quills still shortened, it would take a long time for that to happen…

Once they were inside, he was met with the stares of Sonic's parents. It made him uncomfortable. "…"

Glancing around the room, he saw that the large banner that read _"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SONIC!" _in blue letters had a small piece of paper attached to it which said, _"and Scourge" _in green letters.

His eye twitched. That was the best they could do? Granted, it _was_ last minute…

"What's the holdup? It's supposed to be a party!"

"You'd think this was a funeral…" Scourge mumbled, his ears drooping slightly. "Guess I killed the mood."

"Nah, you didn't," Sonic said, wrapping an arm around Scourge's shoulders in a one arm hug. He was lucky the Anti's quills had been pruned, and that because their bodies were the same, it was easy to avoid being the sharp quills anyway.

The sudden movement of being manhandled like that jarred Scourge's half healed wounds, making him hiss in pain. "Ow…"

This caused Bernadette to snap out of her reverie and rush over to them. "Oh dear, are you alright?" She was already in the process of removing his jacket. "Here, let me take a look."

Scourge looked like he was about to protest, until Sonic whispered into his ear, "Trust me, it'll go by faster if you just let her treat your wounds."

"Aw, come on…this is nothin'. You shoulda seen what I looked like a few days ago," Scourge said, wincing as Bernadette gently pressed on his ribs, which were bruised from the daily abuse, never having had the chance to heal.

Deathly silence.

It took a minute for the other hedgehogs to recover from this information. The fact that Scourge could sound so casual about what he'd been through…

If Sonic didn't have such strong morals, he would have gone into the No Zone Jail and beaten Zobotnik to a bloody pulp.

Shaking his head to get rid of the rather violent thoughts, Sonic realized that his mother was done tending to Scourge's wounds, having bandaged up his chest. Part of the twin scars were covered from the bandages, but it didn't look like the Moebian minded.

He still looked somewhat uncomfortable at the concern the purple hedgehog had shown. His own mother hadn't given a damn for him, just like his old man.

Thinking about that reminded him that Jules was also in the room. Glancing at the Robian, Scourge wondered if he'd bring up the confrontation they'd had…

And from the way Jules was staring at him…did he suspect Scourge had really escaped the prison? Or did he just not trust him?

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Bernadette brought out a platter of 21 chilidogs, stacked in a pyramid.

Wearing identical grins, Sonic and Scourge eagerly ran towards the circular table that the platter was set on; the latter of the two not bothering to pick up his jacket.

"Finally, some decent food," Scourge remarked as he started stacking chilidogs on a plate.

Then he noticed that he and Sonic each had ten on their plates, and there was only one left. When Sonic also noticed this, they glared at each other.

"Back off, Scourge, that's MY chilidog!"

Scourge scoffed. "Yours? Hell no, Blue, that's thing's MINE!"

Blue narrowed his eyes. "Well, I guess there's only one way to settle this…"

"…Please don't say a race…" The last thing Scourge needed was to be humiliated because he didn't have his speed.

It was then that Sonic finally noticed the pruned quills. His emerald eyes flashed with rage, and for a split second, a dark aura surrounded him before it dissipated.

"No, I was thinking more of a…karaoke contest…?" Sonic chuckled sheepishly, not having any other ideas.

Scourge gave him a weird look, but since he couldn't think of anything else either, he shrugged. "Eh, that works."

Cue that famous thumbs up. "Great!" After setting down his plate, Sonic raced to another room, leaving Scourge alone with his parents.

The green hedgehog could have sworn he felt a drop of sweat run down the side of his head as he also put his plate down. "…Sometimes, it's scary to remember that I'm _his_ Anti…"

"You must have acted like that yourself, haven't you?" Jules asked, speaking for the first time since the Moebian arrived.

"A few times, back when I was little, but…no one ever really noticed me when I acted that way. My ma didn't like it much anyway, but at least she wasn't like…" Fists clenched, Scourge didn't realize what he'd just said until Bernadette wrapped her arms around him in a gentle hug.

Taken aback by the show of motherly affection- ironic that it was from the alternate version of _his _mother- Scourge fell silent. A jumble of emotions ran through him, threatening to overwhelm him. Tears gathered in his eyes, and he had to lower his shades in order to hide them.

The two older hedgehogs knew that Moebius' inhabitants were polar opposites to their Prime counterparts, but up until Scourge had revealed that tidbit of his childhood, they hadn't realized that, while Sonic had been cared for and loved by his parents, the Anti hedgehog had been ignored and neglected.

Jules then remembered the parting words that the former King had said after their confrontation:

_"Just a bunch of empty words…you're no different from my old man after all…"_

He'd wondered what the then teenager meant by it, but never had the opportunity to really question the words.

"…Uh…Did I miss something…?" came the question from Sonic, who entered the room carrying a karaoke machine.

While it looked as though he'd been searching the house the entire time, in truth, the Blue Blur's search had only taken about twenty seconds; he had been about to reenter the room with the equipment, but stopped outside the room to listen in on the conversation, where he had the same realization as his parents about Scourge's upbringing.

Startled by the sudden voice, Scourge instantly pulled away, his muzzle faintly pink from embarrassment. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but to no avail. "N-No, you didn't miss anything…"

Although Sonic could tell that Scourge's voice was thick with emotion, he didn't comment on it, and instead set down the machine and focused the subject on their little contest. "Rules are simply, we just take turns singing, and whoever the judges- Mom and Pop in this case- give the best score to is the winner."

"…Won't they be a bit…biased…?"

"Of course we won't," the purple hedgehog assured. Jules nodded in agreement.

"…Right…Who's goin' first?" Scourge asked.

In answer, Sonic tossed him the mic before plugging in the small machine.

After switching places, Scourge went though the selection of songs before he found the song he knew would help release the bundle of emotions inside. After waiting for the guitar intro to finish, he cleared his throat and held the mic up to his mouth.

_"Hey, Dad, look at me. Think back and talk to me. Did I grow up according to plan?"_

No one dared to make a sound as the evergreen hedgehog poured out his long suppressed feelings of being unwanted.

_"I'm sorry I can't be perfect…"_

All he had ever wanted when he was young was his parents' approval. Instead, his father had been far too busy to make time for him, and it seemed as though no matter what he did, his mother always found some fault to scorn him for.

_"Nothing's gonna change the things that you said. Nothing's gonna make this right again…"_

He couldn't continue after that, his voice became too choked for him to talk, let alone sing; he dropped the microphone and ran out of the room, tears slipping from behind the sunglasses.

The other three occupants were too caught up in their thoughts over their guest, that they didn't notice the cloaked figure sneak past and follow Scourge.

Scourge was huddled in the corner of the next room, trying his damned hardest to stem the flow of tears. His sunglasses were on the floor next to him.

'Dammit, stop crying! You're not a little kid anymore!' he scolded himself. Funny, he could hear his ma's voice behind the words…

"…Son…"

Scourge's head snapped up at the familiar voice. it couldn't be…

But it was. There, somewhat hidden with the cloak, was Anti Jules.

"Y-You…you're supposed to be dead…"

Lowering the hood, Anti Jules shook his head. "Far from it. You get your resilience from me. If you could survive all that time in the Jail, then it makes sense that I could survive your attack."

Scourge bared his sharp teeth, all of his sadness turning into anger and hatred. "You knew…"

"How could I not? From the moment I woke up after you tried to kill me, I've been following you, watching from a distance."

Without warning, Scourge lunged at his father, and scored a hard punch to his jaw, similar to how Sonic punched him earlier. "You goddamn bastard! You think that after all these years you can just show up like this?"

He hadn't been careful enough to keep his voice down, but he didn't care.

He did, however, freeze when he noticed Sonic and his parents watching. They could see the anger and pain he that he still hadn't found an outlet for in his eyes.

Swallowing thickly, he turned away from them all. "…I need to be alone for a while…"

As he started to walk away, Anti Jules stood and placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Wait…"

Practically snarling, Scourge pulled himself away. "Just leave me the hell alone, old man! You've done enough already by not…by not being there all those years ago when I…when I needed you! All you did was ignore me, because you were _too damn busy_ with the fucking Great Peace!"

His chest was heaving with emotion, causing some pain because of his bruised ribs, but again, he didn't care.

The words stung his father's heart and conscience, even though Anti Jules knew he deserved the scorn.

Scourge wasn't finished, however. "You should've died that day…you should've _died!"_ He moved as if attack again, but Sonic quickly stepped in.

"Stop it, Scourge."

Surprisingly, Scourge did stop, although he was still glaring hatefully at his father.

When he was sure his Anti was calm enough, Sonic continued. "Look, I'm know there're issues between you two, but can't you see he just wants to-"

"To what, Blue? Suddenly become Daddy Dearest?" Scourge sneered. "Tch, I'd rather…" he trailed off, not wanting to say it.

"…You'd rather…?"

"I…I'd rather…stay here…"

That was the last thing they'd expected to hear from the green hedgehog.

Sonic tilted his head a bit. "Why?"

"I can't exactly go back to my own Zone, now can I? Not with everyone hating me. At least here, I can get a…second chance?"

The others nodded in understanding.

"If that's what you want…I suppose I'll just have to accept it," said Anti Jules. Much to everyone's surprise, he reached into a small pocket from his inner cloak and pulled out a Warp Ring, which he then activated.

Scourge let out a snort through his nose, not caring, before leaving the room.

Sonic looked at his "twin's" retreating form, and then followed him.

Neither saw the last, saddened look Anti Jules had cast in his son's direction, but Jules Prime did.

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of him."

Nodding, the cloaked hedgehog pulled the hood back up to hide his face before turning back towards the portal and stepping through.

"…Scourge?"

"…Whaddya want, Blue…?"

Sitting beside the green hedgehog, Sonic wasn't entirely sure where to start. "…I know this is a stupid question, but…you alright?"

"I thought he was dead…he _shoulda_ been dead…"

"Did…did you try to kill him?" Sonic couldn't stand the thought of killing someone, but it was obvious Scourge didn't have the same problem.

Scourge nodded. "Yeah. Before you showed up in my world that first time. I was just so mad for him ignorin' me that…I figured it'd be better if he weren't around for good."

"…Well, that's all in the past now…besides, my dad isn't like that, y'know. He won't make the same mistakes your dad did. I just gotta ask…you aren't gonna be blowin' up at Pop just cause he's an alternate version of your dad, are ya?"

Scourge couldn't help chuckling, even as he remembered how the Robian hadn't been intimidated by him or his threats. "Nah…well, maybe. Only if he annoys me enough." Here, he gave Sonic a cheeky grin.

Sonic grinned back. Then he got an idea. "Wait here. I'll be back in a flash."

Blue zoomed off back into the living room before come back with their plates of chilidogs.

The difference was, one of them had that extra chilidog on it, and it was this one that he gave to the Moebian. "Here. You deserve it, after everything that happened today."

Although shocked at this act of kindness, Scourge accepted it. "Thanks…Sonic."

And with that, the two hedgehogs started chowing down on their favorite food.

They may have started out as enemies, but now, they were friends. Brothers. And given that they were so similar, it would only strengthen the bond between them.

All Scourge had ever really wanted was a second chance at the family he'd never had. Now, he had it, and not even the thought of being found out as a fugitive from the No Zone Jail could dampen his thoughts.

_**Fin.**_

**Well, how was that for my first time writing Scourge into my fics? Good? Bad?**

**I've always thought the song "Perfect" by Simple Plan fit Scourge and Anti Jules, even though, aside from a small explanation in issue #192, we never learn much about Scourge's backstory. My reasoning as to why he acts the way he does is because he didn't have anyone to depend on as a kid, so he had to learn to depend on himself and develop a tough guy attitude in order to hide the fact that, deep down, he's an insecure and lonely little boy who just wants a second chance at an actual family, hence the title of this.**

**I know no one really knows what happened to Scourge's parents, but I just assumed that his dad was too busy for him, and that his mom, being the opposite of Sonic's, was unloving and scornful towards her son. The rumor that Scourge killed his dad…well, it does sound like something that would happen, only I had Anti Jules survive to serve as a bit of an outlet for Scourge's inner turmoil. And the scene between them was inspired by a fanart I saw the other day on dA called "Julius: Wait…" (I know the artist misspelled Jules' name, but just deal with it).**

**Also, the reason why I had Scourge so affected of his time spent in the No Zone Jail...Well, I thought he bounced back too quickly. I mean, being the punching bag of the place had to have some lasting effects on him.**

**The scene with the chilidogs was an image I've had in my head for a while. I thought it'd be funny for them to fight over who got the last one.**

**Did I upload this in time before the clock strikes midnight and it's no longer their birthday…? *checks clock* 11PM, hell yeah! I made it!**

**Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this. Review please~**

**Oh, and happy half birthday, TheUnrulyWereHog!**

**ShidesuHejjihoggu**


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